| Trying to establish differences between stone ridge, holy child and visi. Which ones are more "conservative" and "most liberal." |
From what I understand from friends, SR is the most liberal, then HC, than Visitation, which is pretty conservative. |
+1 in past 5+ years, SR has also become more liberal in catholic views in terms of curriculum, teachers, etc. generally more diverse in terms of students of different religions. Many families prefer this. |
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For the life of me, I can't imagine what the difference is between Liberal and Conservative Catholicism. And I don't think the people who bandy this difference about on here have any idea what they were talking about.
It's the same religion, the same Catechism, the same clergy and largely the same population being served. The teaching and the rules are the same. We have belonged to Holy Trinity for many years and the message we get every Sunday never takes sides in the Liberal v. Conservative schism. The Jesuits may emphasize different things, but they aren't ever departing from mainstream Catholic teaching. Some of these schools and their communities may be a little more or less accepting of non-Catholics, but that has nothing to do with Catholicism. |
One major difference in my experience - the conservative Catholics think all non-straight people are going to hell. The liberal ones think it's maybe negotiable. Joking aside, in my experience the conservatives generally believe the bible is the infallible word of God, while the liberals believe it is the word of God as recounted through flawed human perspectives. Revealed by God (as in word-for-word truth) v. inspired by God (God gives the big picture concepts, human that is a product of his time and place interprets it as best he can) is how it was taught in my (liberal) Catholic high school. And that difference can have pretty big ripple effects. |
This is not a Catholic belief. |
IMO, it is demonstrated by where the focus of the church or school lies. My aunt and uncle attend a Catholic church in NC and the church has a "dead baby" graveyard set up in the front yard with huge signs about how abortion kills. Conservative churches or schools are going to be more openly disdainful or unwelcoming unfortunately to those who are LGBT. During the prayers of the faithful, there will likely often be references to the unborn, abortion, etc. A more liberal church or school is instead going to spend its time and energy on the social justice and loving elements of the Catholic faith. My own Catholic parish in this area has multiple ways to support immigrant and refugee communities, as just one example. Our priest's homilies are about being open and loving and accepting. Our prayers of the faithful usually reference tolerance and prayer for those in need. The doctrine is the same but how a community chooses to focus its spirituality is part of what may distinguish it. |
| Exactly! The poster saying there is no difference is likely one of the conservative catholics. The rest of us know exactly what OP is talking about! |
| In my recent experience, a conservative Catholic believes that the current crisis in the church is 100% caused by letting gay men be priests. |
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“The doctrine is the same but how a community chooses to focus its spirituality is part of what may distinguish it.”
+1 Love the way you articulated this. |
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One measure to consider would be the % of non-Catholics at school (and the schools’ goal %s to understand their philosophies about this).
You could also look at schedules and see how much time is dedicated to religion and double check what religion classes include in their curriculum. |
+1 |
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My children attended a Holy Child school out of state and their teachings are influenced by their founder Cornelia Connelly who was a believer in a whole child education way before it was popular. At our school, the religion focused on character, finding the good in others, how you can be of service to others and they were definitely open to welcoming non-Catholics into their population. I don’t know the culture specifically at Holy Child in MD but do know all the schools follow a similar philosophy and the schools in the network are audited by the network to determine if their curriculum promotes the whole child core values of the Holy Child network. I liked that the school was in a small network (think there are 13 Holy Child schools) as they share best practices, but are all run independently and are not beholden to a large diocese.
The Head of one of the other Holy Child schools used to be at Stone Ridge and highly praises that school too. From what I’ve heard, Visi is a little more traditional but non-Catholic kids attend there too. None of them are old school traditional Catholic schools. |
| all hard left. the only conservative schools are heights and oakcrest |
| Weird question. Why not teach your religious values at home and worry more about educational quality. Your kid is going to school...not you. |